Bite the Bullet
by Flying Jay
Summary: When Ezekiel's shot during a mission, will his family be able to save him in time? Ezekiel whump.
1. Chapter 1

"Jones? Was that a gunshot?" Eve's voice drifted like a shadow. Vaguely, Ezekiel realized she sounded worried.

"Jones?" That was Jake. Their voices slipped from the cell phone in his hands. Ezekiel's fingers clenched it tight, trying to reach them through the plastic.

His body wasn't responding right... There was pain everywhere, lancing through his midsection and settling in his toes.

His clothes felt wet and hot and sticky. There was blood everywhere.

 _His blood_.

Well that wasn't good.

There was a moment where he felt like he was falling, until his back hit the tunnel wall with a loud _thump_. Ezekiel whimpered and he heard a laugh drift through the fog.

Someone was in front of him and they were laughing.

He couldn't focus on them. The world suddenly felt too bright and it slid around him like rushing water.

"Ezekiel?" That was Eve again. Now she sounded _really_ worried. He tried to open his mouth, to say something, but instead he coughed and a bubble of blood burst down his chin.

God, he hurt. The pain was paralyzing.

He was on the ground now and it was red. The tunnel wall was at his back and there was someone in front of his. They swam in his vision.

He closed his eyes and that was a bit better.

God, he was tired...

" _Ezekiel_!" Jake's voice sliced through the fog and Ezekiel's eyes flickered open for just a moment. Just a moment... just to see... then he'd sleep.

The air stunk of copper.

Suddenly there were hands gripping his shoulders. Ezekiel was yanked forward and he tried to scream. _Please! Stop! That hurts!_ Instead more blood dripped down his chin. Agony ripped through his abdomen and the world tilted to its side.

Jake's face was in front of his, warm worried eyes floating... Everything else was white and shining. The world was on fire.

"Ezekiel? You're alright. You're alright. Eve's dealing with her. You're fine."

Ezekiel couldn't answer. He was too busy remembering how to breathe through the fire in his chest. The air felt too thick and it stunk like rusty metal ( _Was that blood? His blood?)_. He was most definitely not fine.

"Just hold on. We'll get you through the door. Jenkins will-"

But whatever Jenkins was going to do drifted away as Ezekiel's world turned dim. Jake disappeared into the darkness and his eyes slid closed.

There were hands on his face and he held onto that.

The feeling of a rough palm against his cheek...

Someone else's soft fingers on his pulse...

 **Please, remember to leave a review! There'll be two more chapters, hopefully I'll have the next chapter up by next week.**


	2. Chapter 2

"Eve, open the door," Jake ordered. His voice trembled and he could barely get the words out. Ezekiel was dead weight in his arms. Cold blood dripped between their chests and he could feel the violent gasps for air against his neck.

Ezekiel was dying.

Jake had never been more thankful for their magic door than at that moment.

Eve flung it open and charged in with the passion of a bull.

"Ah, you're back," Jenkin's voice called. He had his back to them as he fiddled with something on the desk. Cassandra was next to him; scribbling notes faster than Jake could follow.

"Did you get the orb-" her smile fell as she turned around and her words stopped in her throat. " _Ezekiel_."

Eve rushed forward, throwing them both aside. She flung herself at the desk, swiping everything to the floor. Papers fluttered, heavy book ends were sent flying, and something very fragile smashed to pieces at her feet.

Jenkins said not a word until Jake had set Ezekiel down gently.

"What happened?"

"We got separated. The towns people, they weren't... possessed, but angry?" Jake was struggling to explain. There'd been masses of them in the tunnels. People who they'd met the day before, who'd been all too happy to show them around and explain the most exciting occurrence since JF Kennedy had made a wrong turn during election year and ended up in their sleepy little town for a night. They still had a plaque in the hotel.

Three nights ago, a couple residents have come across some tunnels deep in the hills. Ever since, the unstable shafts had become a public spectacle. Everyone and their mother had been clamoring to take a look inside.

Then that morning the riots had started.

Nothing was more dangerous than a group of very angry locals with guns.

"That would be the orb at work. Pure energy has that effect on people. I thought you'd have more time but... well, never mind," Jenkins shook his head, darting from here to there around the office, pulling potions and books and tiny vials off the shelves. Cassandra followed him like a humming bird, zipping between pulling books to muttering equations. Whatever they were doing, they moved in sync.

"We have to slow the bleeding," Eve murmured. Jake was startled away from his thoughts and back to Ezekiel.

He looked terrible. The color had faded away from his cheeks. Blood was dripping down his front... there was so much of it. Jake didn't even know someone could lose that much blood and still be alive. He himself was sticky with it. It clung to his clothes, wet and cold against his skin.

Wordlessly he shook his jacket off, bundled it up, and pressed it against Ezekiel's abdomen.

"Don't we have bandages?" he asked, frowning at the red creeping into the cloth.

"No... no I used them already. For Flynn, when he was stabbed." The panic in her voice set a cold weight of dread in Jake's stomach.

If Eve was panicking then things were dire.

Ezekiel _really_ did not look good.

"What about the magic potion he gave you when you were hurt?"

The blood was already soaked into the jacket and Jake could feel the blood beneath his hands.

"It's gone. I took the rest..."

"Then what the hell are we doing!" Jake all but screamed. Ezekiel was dying. "We need a hospital, an ambulance-"

Suddenly Cassandra was there, gripping his arm. He was grounded again, the panic that'd been threatening to drown him was abated. Now it lapped at his brain, waves against a cliff, fierce and wild.

She looked him in the eyes and smiled weakly. "I think we can replicate the magic potion Flynn and Eve used." Her eyes flickered to Ezekiel and Jake could almost see what she was seeing. He was pale, barely breathing, not moving, and when Cassie took his pulse, her eyes went dark. He didn't have to do that math to know they didn't have a lot of time. "We just need him to hold on a little more," she whispered.

"Some master thief," he whispered back. As if they were afraid of waking Ezekiel up. As if they _could_. "Taken down by a little bullet... Going on about how indestructible he is all the time." Jake's voice was rough and the words caught in his throat. He'd have been ashamed at the tears pricking at his eyes, except Cassandra's eyes were filled with those same tears. "If he dies, I'm going to kill him."

Cassandra laughed, and then she sobbed.

Her fingers were in Ezekiel's hair, stroking the locks away from his face gently. Her thumb gently traced his cheek.

They watched him together, as his breathing became weaker, as his face was leached of color. Behind them Jenkins and Eve worked furiously.

Then he was barely breathing at all. His lips were parted and his chest was barely rising.

Then he stopped breathing altogether.

It took a moment for Jake to start moving.

"Cass-" he choked out. He was frozen in place, hands pressing his jacket into Ezekiel's still body.

She lurched forward, fumbling for a pulse.

"He.. he's..." That was all she could get out before tears were streaming down her cheeks.

"Jenkins. Eve," Jake called. His voice sounded far away and his eyes were trained on Ezekiel's face. He was still. So still.

"We've got it! We're coming," Jenkins called. There was relief in his voice. Jake could barely understand his words before he noticed the small glass cup in his hands.

"He's gone."

Eve and Jenkins froze just a few steps away. When they looked at Ezekiel, it was as if for the first time. Comprehension dawned on their faces.

"Maybe... maybe it'll still work. Maybe..." Eve was stuttering, her eyes wide and frantic. She snatched the vial away from Jenkins and put it to Ezekiel's lips.

Jake couldn't watch. He took a step back, releasing his jacket.

The cloth fell to the floor with a _slup_ sound. It was bright red and soaked with blood. A pool of it trickled at his feet.

Ezekiel was gone.

There was movement in his peripheral vision. Eve trying to force the potion down his throat. Jenkins holding onto the body like he could force life into it somehow.

"It worked for Eve and she was close..." Cassie whispered beside him.

They both knew it wouldn't.

Ezekiel was dead.


	3. Chapter 3

This could not be happening.

Jenkins couldn't lose someone else. Not this soon. He'd only just met this new family. They'd only just come into his life.

He'd been so stubborn at the beginning. Pretending as if they were nothing, as if their presence didn't brighten the annex every morning. Now he was just beginning to lean on them. To consider them _his_.

And now Ezekiel was dead.

Like a punch line to a bad joke.

This could not be happening.

 _Think. Think_.

He could fix this. He had thousands of years under his belt and experiences worth their weight in gold. He could fix this. He _had_ to fix this.

Eve was trying to force the magic potion down Ezekiel's throat. He wanted to tell her it wouldn't work, that you couldn't heal a dead person. But the words were stuck in his throat.

 _Think. Think._

All they had to do was get the blood flowing again. Get the blood flowing and get the magic potion inside of him. Easy.

Step one. Blood flow.

"Mr. Stone," Jenkins barked, so suddenly it shocked even him. Jake, however, turned slowly, like he was moving through syrup.

"Go get the orb. The one you found today. The Library filed it. Go. Now."

To his credit, Jake didn't question him. He just bolted forward, taking in the urgency in Jenkins' voice.

"What's going on?" Cassandra asked, because she _would_ ask the questions.

"We were seconds too late. Just seconds. That's the good news," he offered, already moving. He grabbed the cup from Eve, not even looking at her. She made no move to take it back. Her hands were running through Ezekiel's hair.

"What?" Cassandra called after him, and he couldn't help the huff that slipped from his nose.

"We need to get this-" he help up the magic potion, swirling what was left around the cup "-inside of him. Step one, we need the blood flowing again. To get the blood moving we need the heart pumping. To get the heart pumping-"

"We need the orb!" Cassandra gasped. Her entire face lit up like a sunrise. Jenkins had never been more thankful for her as he was today. She was just steps behind him. "The orb's energy. Pure energy. Like electricity. So, if we can connect that to his heart somehow, we could mimic the results of electric impulses going to the heart. Like a pacemaker! It'd last just long enough for the potion to do its thing. That... that might work."

"Exactly."

"But..."

"But? What but?" Eve asked. Jenkins had almost forgotten she was there.

"But it could also overload. That much energy... Imagine a pacemaker exploding inside your chest." Cassandra spoke slowly and he could tell she was afraid to say it out loud. _He_ was afraid to even consider it. What if he'd overlooked something? A magical solution that could fix him. What if this was a crucial mistake-

"He's already dead." Eve's voice was cold as ice. "Do it."

Cassandra and Jenkins both nodded, their expressions firm.

He could fix this... _They_ could fix this.

On the other side of the room Ezekiel lay on the table. Still... so still. He looked small too. And young, oh so young. It was easy to forget how young he was. Young and small and already he'd given his life to the Library.

What were they going to tell Flynn? Another person had left him, and this time it was someone he'd brought into this world. He had invited Ezekiel to join the Library and now... now they'd all paid the price.

 _No. This is going to work._

It had to.

"How are you going to forgo the digestive system?" Cassandra was suddenly by his side. There was a smile on her face, but the skin around her eyes were too tight, and her eyes were glistening with unshed tears. Still, she was a comfort.

He held up a syringe. Inside the magic potion was ready.

"You're going to go straight into the blood stream... Will that work?"

"Probably," he answered, because it was magic so who knew how it really worked.

She seemed to take it as an answer though, because she nodded firmly and then gently took the syringe out of his hand. "Let me."

A minute later found the four of them huddled around Ezekiel.

Dead people don't look like they're sleeping. They just look like they're dead. Ezekiel was too pale and still for sleep. He looked like he'd never wake up again.

 _Please, let this work._

Jenkins looked back up at the other Librarians. On one side, Jake was posed with the orb directly above Ezekiel's chest. On the other, Cassandra was waiting with the syringe. Eve stood beside her, one hand on Ezekiel's shoulder, as if offering support.

"Remember Mr. Stone, just long enough for Miss. Cillian to inject him. No more."

Jake nodded. Cassandra nodded. Eve nodded.

"Alright then. Let's begin."

At first when Jake placed the orb on Ezekiel's chest, nothing happened. The four of them stood still, hearts in their throats. For a second that lasted a life time, Jenkins thought he'd been wrong.

Then all at once Ezekiel was moving. His chest was yanked upward, like a puppet on strings. The rest of his body twitched and convulsed. In all his thousands of years, Jenkins had never seen something so horrible.

Cassandra didn't hesitate. She pushed the needle into the crook of his arm.

Even as both Librarians pulled away, Ezekiel didn't stop. His entire body was shuddering on the table. There was blood dribbling from the wound. Eve wrapped her arms around his shoulders, trying to ground him.

Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, he was still again.

Second ticked by and no one moved. Dread crashed over them like a wave in a storm. It hadn't taken Eve this long to wake up, and it'd worked immediately with Flynn. But now Ezekiel was still silent and he still looked _so dead_.

But then the blood disappeared.

Ezekiel came back all at once. His chest shot upward, of its own accord this time, and his eyes flew open, and suddenly he was half way off the table, gasping for breath.

Eve got to him first, gathering him in her arms fiercely. He was coughing so hard Jenkins was afraid he'd throw up a lung. But then Jake was there to pat him on the back gently, and Cassandra was calming him down with quiet words.

Ezekiel Jones was alive again.

"You miss me?"


End file.
